Hard Times: CONOR POPE looks for cheaper ways to eat around the edges of the downturn
READ THE ingredient list:Take care when it comes to the bargain ranges which are taking up more and more space on our supermarket shelves. While they may be good for your wallet, they're not so good for you and some of the products claiming to offer value are as wholesome as a punch in the mouth.
The nutritional deficit found in some cheap food won’t come as a shock to anyone who has ever glanced at the ingredients listed on a packet of cheese slices and wondered why they were made with just 11 per cent cheese and what was in the other 89 per cent.
The most worrisome “cheap” foods are not, however, the cheese or even the “apple” pies which have 10 per cent apple but the bargain basement processed meat products including sausages made with the scrapings – literally – of the pork barrel along with a, er, healthy dollop of testicles, eyelids, salt and fat or the beef pies which have less than 20 per cent beef and have more “flavour enhancing” salt and sugar than could possibly be good for anyone.
Convenience costs:During the boom years, we all seemed to grow too busy or too lazy to wash lettuce, grate cheese, chop onions or carrots or mash potatoes. Instead we paid our supermarkets to do it.
When money’s tight, such “convenience” should be the first thing to go. Bagged lettuce leaves cost at least five times more than a lettuce head and have had most of the nutrients washed out in the cleaning process.
While grated cheese goes a lot further in a sandwich than slices, the pre-grated variety costs over 40 per cent more than a block (and, really, is anyone ever too busy to grate their own cheese?) while mashed potato from MS or Tesco is ridiculously expensive and laden with salt and fats.
Jarring facts:Jarred pasta sauces – and it doesn't matter what the brand we're talking about – must be one of the greatest marketing cons of the past 20 years. A 500g jar of a tomato-based sauce will cost about €2 – or as much as €5 if you're very foolish indeed. When added to minced beef it gives you a fast, if not entirely healthy, Bolognese.
Meanwhile, a tin of tomatoes (49 cent), an onion (15 cent), a clove of garlic (5 cent), a sprinkling of dried herbs (5 cent) and salt and pepper (1 cent) will set you back just 75 cent.
You’ll have a much nicer, healthier meal that will have taken you only the length of time it takes to open a can of tomatoes, chop an onion and crush a clove of garlic.
Eat oats:Porridge is cheap, warming, locally produced (and so more environmentally friendly), easy to make and will keep you going for a whole lot longer than a bowl of air-filled flakes, which are often ridiculously priced empty calories.
Oats are not only a slow-burning fuel but a much under-rated superfood which can help to lower blood pressure and reduce cholesterol.
Make it yourself:Okay, so it's old school and you may not have done it since you were in school, but one of the best ways to ensure you eat well for less is to bring your lunch into work with you. If, like most office workers, you're partial to a lunchtime sandwich and spend a fiver a day on it, over the course of a working year (even factoring in time off) it will cost you €1,100.
A year’s supply of bread, ham and cheese to make your own sandwiches costs just €300.
The seasonal vegetables needed to make homemade soup which can be frozen and brought into work on horrible wintery days will cost half that amount.
Be more vegetarian:One of the simplest ways to save money while doing yourself some good is to eat less meat. By setting yourself the challenge of having two meat-free days every week, you could cut your food budget by €500 a year at the very least – multiply that by two if you're cooking for a family.
Buy the cheaper cuts:Don't just eat less meat, eat cheaper meat by reconsidering the cuts you're buying. When it comes to beef, chuck steak and shin and leg cuts are very cheap and great for making casseroles. The shoulder and neck of lamb is tough but will melt in your mouth after spending several hours in a low-heat oven and then there is pork belly so beloved of foodies and food writers – not only is it cheap, it's also delicious and almost impossible to overcook.
Write it down:Make lists, plan menus and never shop when hungry and you will save yourself a fortune and do your bit for the environment too. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Irish households throw away over 20 per cent of the food that comes through its doors every single year.
Apart from being an absolutely shameful waste of food, it is costing us all a ridiculous amount of money – over €1,000 every year, in fact. By making lists, planning properly and not impulse buying we could all cut that. And make sure to look on the top and bottom shelves – supermarkets tend to place their most expensive items at eye level because they know we’re too lazy to look up or down.
Learn to cook:Like him or loathe him, Jamie Oliver is no fool and he recognises that one of the best ways to improve a nation's health is to get them cooking.
Anyone who can rustle up a hearty casserole or stew is well on their way to keeping their weekly shopping bills in check. Not only are casseroles simple and wholesome, they allow you to take advantage of buy-one-get-one free offers on meat and chicken allowing you to cook three or four meals at the same time – one for tonight, one for tomorrow and two for the freezer. By adding things like chick peas or kidney beans or chilli flakes to a casserole you can instantly, and with no effort and very little cost, have yourself a completely different meal.
Timing is crucial:Seasonal veg are much cheaper than ones which are shipped in from overseas. If you want to have new potatoes in December, strawberries in January, then expect to pay a premium for them.